Two weeks after the high court of justice in London refused to reopen Nirav Modi’s extradition case, a verdict which has shut all doors for him legally in the United Kingdom, the fugitive diamantaire has approached the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, in a last ditch attempt to save himself, people familiar with the development said.
File photo of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. (HT_PRINT)
Indian agencies, however, believe that his application is likely to be rejected at the admission stage only as his previous attempts to invoke the convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights, before the UK courts have been dismissed by the judges.
“If anything, this fresh attempt by Nirav Modi will just delay by a few months his repatriation to India because he has already exhausted all his legal options in the UK,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
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The UK high court, on March 25, took into account the assurances from the Indian government — delivered in September 2025, December 2025, and through a note verbale from the Indian High Commission in London in February 2026 — that Modi will not be interrogated by any of the five investigating agencies handling his cases, as it dismissed his plea to reopen the extradition, which was ordered by a Westminster’s court in London in February 2021.
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The UK high court, on March 25, took into account the assurances from the Indian government — delivered in September 2025, December 2025, and through a note verbale from the Indian High Commission in London in February 2026 — that Modi will not be interrogated by any of the five investigating agencies handling his cases, as it dismissed his plea to reopen the extradition, which was ordered by a Westminster’s court in London in February 2021.
Elaborating the process at ECHR, a second officer said that “if Modi’s plea is found admissible by the body, then the government seeking extradition (India) will be called to submit its observations on both, the admissibility and the merits of the case. However, if rejected at the admissibility stage, he won’t be able to appeal at ECHR again”.
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The UK is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. Modi had previously raised the issue of torture in Indian prisons, if extradited, and his mental health to oppose the extradition but the courts in London have not found merit in his arguments.
HT reached out to Nirav Modi’s legal team in London through email but there was no response. Accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank of ₹6,498 crore — part of a total ₹13,578 crore fraud, with around ₹7,000 crore linked to his uncle Mehul Choksi — Modi has been in a UK prison since his arrest by Scotland Yard in March 2019, based on India’s extradition request.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.
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Home/India News/Nirav Modi moves Europe Human Rights Court after London court snub in extradition case
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